Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to customer relationship management (CRM) and more particularly to the utilization of CRM in a retail setting.
Description of the Related Art
CRM refers to the interaction that a business entity enjoys with its customers, whether the business entity provides sales or services to the customer. CRM is often thought of as a business strategy that enables business managers to understand the customer, to retain customers through better customer experience, to attract new customers, increase profitability and to decrease customer management costs. In real terms, however, CRM systems are used specifically to manage business contacts, clients, contract wins and sales leads. As such, CRM solutions provide the end user with the customer business data necessary to provide services or products desired by the customers, to provide better customer service, to cross-sell and to up-sell more effectively, to close deals, retain current customers and understand the identity of the customer.
CRM systems are often used to manage the entire lifecycle of a relationship between a customer and an organization. In this regard, a CRM system is enabled to manage tasks for organizational representatives associated with the targeting and acquisition of a new customer, the fulfillment of a sale to a new customer or an existing customer, and the maintenance of a relationship with an existing customer. Much of the role of the CRM system is to store data documenting the relationship between representatives of an organization and its customers and prospective customers. Thus, the typical CRM system takes a long view of the customer relationship from inception to conclusion which may last many years or even decades.
The use of a CRM system in the in-store retail setting generally is limited to data collection and transaction processing. In this regard, to the extent that a point of sale system within a store has been adapted to communicate with a CRM system, the point of sale system typically receives contact and billing information for a customer at checkout, and additionally reports the nature of the products purchased to the CRM system subsequent to checkout. Optionally, targeted couponing is included as part of the CRM to point of sale integration. Little more of the CRM system is utilized in the in-store setting. Consequently, substantial advantages afforded by CRM have not readily translated to the retail setting.